Abstract

Siberian pine wood imported from Russian Federation has a wide indoor and outdoor application in Turkey. The factors which affect drying times and consequently drying costs, control system quality and drying schedules of this wood are well known; however, the effect of surface quality on drying times of Siberian pine wood is not known. In this study, the effect of surface quality on drying times and final moisture contents of Siberian pine boards in different surface quality classes such as sawn, planed and planed + sanded were determined. The lowest final moisture contents were found in the planed boards while the highest ones were observed in the planed + sanded boards. Smooth surfaces decreased drying times but additional sanding process had negative effect on drying time because sand dust filled the board surface, retarding drying.

Key words: Drying time, surface roughness, Siberian pine.